Watch ‘Race & Hollywood: Asian Images in Film’ on TCM

Grayson Flaim at Turner Broadcasting sent me a note about the upcoming Turner Classic Movies presentation of RACE & HOLLYWOOD: ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM, a “festival” of 37 films examining the portrayal of Asians in movies.  ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM premieres Tuesday, June 3, at 8 p.m. continues every Tuesday and Thursday in June on Turner Classic Movies.

ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM will feature interviews from some of the most notable Asian actors, actresses and directors in the industry including George Takei, Elaine Mae Woo, Wayne Wang and Ming Wen. Films shown range from the silent era (1899) through modern films (2001) and include the Dragon Seed, Bridge to the Sun, Shanghai Express, Enter the Dragon and Joy Luck Club.

The festival is co-hosted by TCM host Robert Osborne and Dr. Peter X Feng, an associate professor of film, ethnic and cultural studies at the University of Delaware and an expert on Asian American film.  Read HYPHEN ‘s interview with Dr. Feng here.

I gotta hand it to TCM for going through the efforts to air these films wrapped in an educational festival.  We can never be too educated about how people of color, LGBT and other disenfranchised members of our community have been — and continue to be — misrepresented and stereotyped in popular culture.  But I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering if I even have TCM in my cable lineup.  Free downloads on TiVo or iTunes could have gone a long way to increase the audience for this.

For a full schedule, video clips, photo gallery, articles and more, go to http://www.tcm.com/aif